Devices for releasably holding the rear ends of rockets



H. HSLI 2 Sheets-Sheet l /NVENTR ATTHNEYS April 22, 1958 DEVICES FOR RELEASABLY HOLDING THE REAR ENDS 0F RocKETs Filed May 5, 1955 H. HSLI April z2, l1958 DEVICES FOR RELEASABLY HOLDING THE REAR ENDS OF ROCKETS Filed May 5. 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Y wm ATTHNEYfJ DEVICES FR RELEASABLY HOLDENG THE REAR ENDS F RCKEES Hansjakob Hsli, Geneva, Switzeriand, assigner to Brevets Aero-Mecaniques S. A., Geneva, Switzerland, a Swiss society The present invention relates to devices for releasably holding the rear ends of rockets, suchV devices being in particular intended to be carried by airplanes under the wings thereof.

The chief object of the present invention is to provide a device of this kind which is better adapted to meet the requirements of practice than those used up to this time.

In such devices, it is known to provide means carried by the support for releasably holding the rear end of the rocket and locking means, movable with respect to said support, urged by resilient means toward a locking position where said holding means cannot release the rocket, said locking means being movable, under the eiiect of the thrust exerted by the power gases and against the action of said resilient means, into an inactive position where said holding means are released so that the rocket can be launched.

According to the present invention, such a device is characterized in that the locking means are constituted by portions of a locking member slidable in the longitudinal direction with respect to the above mentioned support and located opposite the rear jet nozzle of the rocket, so as to be pushed rearwardly by said gas jet from a front position where the locking means are in locking position into a rear position where said locking means become inoperative.

Other features of the invention will become apparent in the course of the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, given merely by way .of example, and in which:

Fig. l is a diagrammatic elevational View showing an airplane wing under which rockets are hanging, these rockets being held at the rear by a device of the type with which the present invention is concerned.

Fig. 2 shows the same elements after launching of the rockets.

Fig. 3 is a View on an enlarged scale and in longitudinal section of a device according to the present invention, the parts being in active position, that is to say tightly holding the rocket rear end.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the parts in the position where the rocket is released.

Fig. is a front View corresponding to Fig. 4.

in the arrangement illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2, the rocket supporting means include the following elements:

On the one hand, a frame 2 fixed to the under surface of Wing 1 and releasably supporting at the front the tail unit 3 of the rocket 4, the rocket being mounted slidable inside said tail unit which thus serves to hold and to guide the rocket as it is being launched, said tail unit being then carried along 'by the rocket (provided for this purpose with a rear shoulder) when said rear shoulder of the rocket comes into contact with said tail unit,

And on the other hand, a support 5 (preferably retractable by pivoting into frame 2) carrying a holding device (diagrammatically indicated by reference character P) arent f@ 2,831,403 Patented Apr. 22, 1958 ICE for supporting and holding the rear end of rocket 4 in launching position. Advantageously, .said support 5 is retractable after launching of the rocket as illustrated by Fig. 2. v

The samesupPQrt 5 may carry several rockets 4 disposed above one another as .shown by Fig. 1 for the two rockets visible thereon. In this case, support 5 must carry a separate holding device for each of the rockets.

Referring :now to Figs. 3 to 5, the device includes means for releasably holding the rear end of the rocket constituted by jaws 6 pivotally mounted about axes 7 at right angles to the launching direction of the rocket, each of these jaws carrying a transverse pin 8 which projects on F either side thereof. v I

Jaws 6 are arranged in such manner that when they aremoved toward each other, they catch the rear end, of frusta-conical shape, of the rocket and thus hold it against frontward displacements.

If these jaws 6 were not prevented from pivoting outwardly, the frontward thrust of the rocket 4 would move them outwardly by a cam eifect and the rocket would be free to move in the frontwarddirection. In order to prevent this, locking means are provided for preventing jaws 6 from pivoting outwardly. These means consist of projections 9 adapted to engage the outer faces of pins ,8 when jaws 6 are in rocket holding position. Said projections 9 are carried by a piece 10 slidable in the direction of the axis of the rocket and adapted to be moved rearwardly, with respect to support 5, against the action of a spring 11. The front face of piece 10 has a central portion having an area corresponding to only a portion of the cross section area of the rearward nozzle of rocket 4.

In order to x the rocket in the holding device, means are provided for moving piece 10 rearwardly against the action of spring 11, thus releasing jaws 6 which can be moved away from ,each other to permit of engaging the rocket between them.

The pivots 7 of jaws 6 are not carried directly by support S but by a sleeve 12 slidable in a tubular extension 5a of support 5. Resilient means (constituted for instance -by Belleville washers 13) are interposed between a shoulder rigid with support 5 and an abutment v14 rigid with sleeve 12, whereby said sleeve 12 is constantly urged rearwardly.

The resilient means 13 must be much stronger (for instance exerting a thrust of 200 kgs.) than the resilient return means 11 (which exert a thrust averaging 10 kgs.).

The above mentioned means for moving piece 10 rearwardly in order to make it possible to insert rocket 4 between iaws 6 are advantageously constituted as follows:

Inside sleeve 12 is provided a tubular rotating piece 15 carried by'a control lever 16. Said tubular piece 15 carries a finger 17 movable in a helical groove 18 provided in the hub of piece 10.

Lever 16 carries a cam 19 adapted when jaws 6 have been locked by projections 9 to close a switch 20 for controlling the connection with `the electric tiring device of the rocket. v

A resilient locking finger 21 is carried by lever 16 and makes it possible to .stop it temporarily in the closing position.

Such a device preferably further .includes the following elements:

A front plug 22 carried by the hub of piece 10 and adapted to cooperate with a corresponding piece provided in the nozzle of rocket 4 for electric connection with the electrical devices included in said rocket. The electric conductors leading to said plug 22 extend through tubular piece 15 and lead to a branching apparatus 27,3',

for instance of the microswitc type, housed in support 5.

Furthermore, guiding ngers 24 (for instance four of them are provided oneither side of jaws 6 as shown on Fig. are adaptedto guide the rocket when it is being inserted in position and when it is launched.

This device works as follows:

After lever 16 has been pivoted sol as to cause projections 9 to be moved rearwardly and therefore to release jaws 6, the rear'end of rocket 4 is engaged between guiding lingers 24 and it is pushed rearwardly until the electric connecting elements thereof are in `engagement with plug 22. lJaws 6 are thenlocated on either side of the rocket rear end. Lever 16 is then returned into its initial position, whereby piece 10 moves frontwardly under-the action of spring 11 and causes projections 9 to come on either side of pins 8 so as to lock jaws 6 in holding position. Advantageously, the front ends of projections 9 are bevelled as shown by the drawings. Due to the return of lever 16 into its initial position, switch 20 has been closed and the electrical apparatus of the rocket are now connected with current sources located on board the airplane and the rocket is ready for launching.

When the firing means are ignited through said electric apparatus, the propelling charge of the rocket causes a jet of gases to flow out from the rocket nozzle onto piece 10. This piece is thus pushed rearwardly against theaction of spring 11 and projections 9 move back, thus releasing pins 8 and jaws 6. This position is illustrated by Fig. 4. laws 6 can then open freely under the cam etfect produced by the frusto-conical rear end of the rocket which is thus released in satisfactory conditions.

If, for'some reason, piece 10 cannot move rearwardly as above explained, launching of the rocket will be delayed until the thrust of the rocket jet, transmitted on the whole of jaws 6 and sleeve 12 is suicient to compress the resilient washers 13. The whole of said jaws 6 and sleeve 12 thenv moves frontwardly with respect to piece 10 which is held by tubular piece 15 and lugs or pins 8 are released from projections 9, so that the rocket is released.

Of course in this case, the rear end of the rocket must be sufiiciently strong to transmit the frontward thrust to sleeve 12 and to compress washers 13.

The advantages of this device are as follows:

The rocket is locked without play;

The device is not sensitive to longitudinal accelerations imparted to the rocket, as long as these accelerations do not correspond to a force higher'than the propelling thrust achieved by the rocket itself; i

Under normal conditions, release of the rocket is obtained by exerting a relatively low force supplied by the rear gas jet from the rocket nozzle, whereby the propelling force of the rocketfisvnot too much reduced due to the force necessary in order to release it;

Thus, the rear end ofy therocket can be made of relatively slight construction. v

In a general manner, while Iha've, in the above description, disclosed what I deem -to be practical and efricient embodiments of my invention, lit should be well understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto `as there might be changes made'i'n the arrangement, disposition and form of the parts without departing from .the principle of thepresent invention as comprehended within the scope of the accompanying claims.

What I claim is:

1. A device for releasably holding the rear end of a rocket having a rear propelling nozzle which comprises, in combination, a support, a piece slidable in said support in the direction of launching of said rocket, at least one pair of jaws for holding the rear edge of said rocket, the rear parts of said jaws being pivoted to said piece about two respective axes parallel to each other and at right angles to said direction, in such manner that said jaws release said rocket by pivoting outwardly away from each other, a locking member slidable in said support in said direction between a front position and a rear position with respect thereto, said locking member including locking projections adapted to engage said jaws to prevent outward pivoting thereof when said locking member is in its front position and to leave said jaws free to pivot outwardly when said locking member is in its rear position, the front surface of said locking member being located opposite said rocket propelling nozzle so as to be pushed rearwardly with respect to said support by the gas jet issuing from said nozzle, resilient means between said locking member and said piece for urging said locking member forwardly with respect to said-piece, and resilient means inserted between said piece and said support and stronger than the above mentionedresilient means for urging said piece rearwardly with respect to said support.

2. A device for releasably holding the rear end of a rocket having a rear propelling nozzle which comprises, in combination, a support, a piece slidable in said support in the direction of launching of said rocket, at least one pair of jaws for holding the rear edge of said rocket, the rear parts of said jaws being pivoted to said piece about two respective axes parallel to each other and at right angles to said direction, in such manner that said jaws release said rocket by pivoting outwardly away from each other, a locking member slidable in said support in said direction between a front position and a rear position with respect thereto, said locking member including locking projections adapted to engage said jaws to prevent outward pivoting thereof when said locking member is in its front position and to leave said jaws free to pivot outwardly when said locking member is in its rear position, the front surface of said locking member being located opposite said rocket propelling nozzle so as to be pushed rearwardly with respect to said support by the gas jet issuing from said nozzle, resilient means between said locking member and said piece for urging said locking member forwardly with respect to said piece, resilient means inserted between said piece and said support and stronger than the above mentioned resilient means for urging said piece rearwardly with respect to said support, and lever means mounted on said support for manually sliding said locking member rearwardly with respect to said piece to disengage said jaws from said projections to permit of inserting the rear end of said rocket between said jaws.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 727,060 Germany Gct. 26, 1942 297,882 Switzerland Apr. 15, 1954 715,928 Great Britain Sept. 22, 1954 

